What radiator should I buy?

[clankilpatrick]

hello again all,
hope someone may have an idea on what radiator is best for a Dec 1996 300tdi. For those of you who replied to my last post on overheating problems, well I though we had it fixed by replacing the thermostat, the expansion tank cap, and the viscous fan. Worked well for a couple of weeks and then it overheated again. So, off came the head and while we were at it I pulled the radiator out as well (just in case). Well, the head has proven to be in fine condition with no cracks and the correct rockwell hardness, but the bloody radiator has a rotten core. It was only done 18 months ago when I bought the truck! So I can get a OE radiator from karcraft for $450 bucks or i was wondering if there is any aftermarket versions that the AULRO community is aware of and can recommend, or is the original the best after all?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
cheers
Dave

[PAT303]

If it only lasted 18months I'd be taking it back with a please explain. Pat

[vnx205]

Did you have the right coolant? An aluminium radiator without it can be ruined in that time with some towns' water.

[clankilpatrick]

Mate, I had the right coolant at the right concentration. The green stuff at 50:50. Our water isn't that bad either. Were on a bore and its better then town water thats for sure.

[clankilpatrick]

You can bet that it is on the cards. Going in to pick it up tomorrow. Just need to find the receipt for the last job.

[Debacle]

Was the last radiator earthed properly ?

That can cause problems apparently with alloy radiators.

[big guy]

Luck of the draw.
I had a brand new radiator give up in a very hort time also, it came with a 12 months warranty.
Bought another exactly same and sold the car to brother in law.
I know, never ell a acr to family or friends but to this day the car purrs and 6 years later ame radiator and it gets a flogging and service intervals are 20k km's if it lucky by a mobile mechanic.

So by in his own words, Land rover is very reliable and especially their radiators.
Got me buggered.

[steveG]

There are alloy ones on Ebay for $360 - made by Britpart.
No idea what they are like - I've still got the original one in my '97 Disco (but been rodded etc recently).

Steve

[clankilpatrick]

Was the last radiator earthed properly ?

That can cause problems apparently with alloy radiators.

Earthed properly? I have absolutely no idea. How do I make sure?

[Debacle]

Earthed properly? I have absolutely no idea. How do I make sure?

I think you can use a multi-meter and stick one probe on the neg terminal of your battery and the other in the coolant in your radiator and check the reading. What an acceptable reading is, I dont know, you may need to check that out.

Best to just get an earth strap and connect it from your radiator to either a point on your chassis or engine just to be sure.

Maybe if you put a query in the tech section you may be able to get some info from someone with a bit more knowledge than me.

[spudfan]

Stick to the genuine expensive Land Rover unit. I needed a radiator for my 200tdi so I bought the less expensive Britpart unit. It is contains a lot of plastic and IT IS NOT A STRAIGHT FORWARD FIT. I eventually got the Britpart one installed but it involved a lot of improvisation. Stick to the genuine artice- more expensive, better quality and easier to fit.

[roverrescue]

Dave,
in my 130 i was finding overheating when loaded up between Cooktown-Cairns especially the Byerstown Range...

radiator was a 4 core and okay condition but took it to Allans in cairns for a rodding, he ended up converting it from 2 pass to 4 pass while the core was being rodded, didnt cost much. Had to move oil cooler out of the side tank so it is now infront of rad. The nice thing about that is I now just have flex hoses to oil cooler rather tahn those terrible OEM ones!!! Anyway it seems to be working okay, Ill still get a temp rise when really working it but not as severe as before and cools down much quicker.

Only problem with 4 passes is a little bit of blockage will cause major restriction so maintenece cant be ignored.

An option?

Another option i looked at was to put in a county full width rad and then mount the IC in front to increase cooling capacity. Doable, but you will need to move the inlet / outler of the county rad and will need a front mount oil cooler.

anyways its starting to heat up again so will test the old girl out again this summer!

Steve

[clankilpatrick]

I think you can use a multi-meter and stick one probe on the neg terminal of your battery and the other in the coolant in your radiator and check the reading. What an acceptable reading is, I dont know, you may need to check that out.

Best to just get an earth strap and connect it from your radiator to either a point on your chassis or engine just to be sure.

Maybe if you put a query in the tech section you may be able to get some info from someone with a bit more knowledge than me.

Thanks for that idea.
I have used this method before to check the brake and clutch fluid. The higher? (can't remember, have to double check) the reading on the volt meter, the more water is in the fluid so the less effective it works. use as an indicator as to when its time to change the fluid.
cheers
Dave

[clankilpatrick]

Gidday Steve,
have ended up going to Natrad in atherton and he will put in a 4 core (brass) and partially solder up the bypass hole for me. All up $560. I now a new one (OE) is $430 from Karcraft but Natrad will give me a 2 year warranty on the work as well.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Dave

[Vern]

are they alley in a fender?

[slug_burner]

I have not had the need to measure the impedance/resistance of the radiator to earth. Unless the radiator is plastic you should be able to get a good contact on a metal part of the radiator without sticking your multimeter probe into the coolant. I don't know what range you would be expecting to read if you did that. Before sticking any unnecessary earth straps onto your cooling system check with your radiator place if this is an issue they normally deal with.

[clankilpatrick]

Mine is copper/brass.

[scott oz]

Was the last radiator earthed properly ?

That can cause problems apparently with alloy radiators.

Curious why would you earth the radiator:angel:

[mox]

Mate, I had the right coolant at the right concentration. The green stuff at 50:50. Our water isn't that bad either. Were on a bore and its better then town water thats for sure.

This water is something I would suspect. On a poultry farm where I did some contract work, water for the chooks came from a bore. Tasted very nice to drink. Someone else in the same district was selling bottled bore water that was probably similar.

However, the first storage tanks installed for this, which were of corrugated galvanised iron apparently only lasted about 18 months before rusting out. Regarding fittings, this water even corroded brass gate valves and they had to be replaced with plastic ones.

Obviously everyone around the place was made well aware that if water was needed for a radiator, a rainwater tank was the place to get it.

This corrosive bore water would probably quickly neutralise anti corrosive additives, which normally deteriorate over time and need replacing even when good water is used.

For emergency use, it would be preferable to use dirty but most likely less corrosive water such as various forms of ground surface water.

Mick

[scott oz]

Ok still curious as to why you would earth the radiator?

[Sprint]

to reduce the effects of electrolytic corrosion

[scott oz]

to reduce the effects of electrolytic corrosion

I'm thinking of running a dedicated earth the length of the vehicle and removing all the earthing points from the vehicle body, chassie, motor and attaching them to the dedicated earth line.

Am I correct in reading into ELECTROlytic corrosion that it is associated with the fact that the motor is used as an earting point. As such the coolant conducts a small charge to the radiator? Given the radiator is mounted on rubber blocks it should be fairly well insulated from earthing.

[Blknight.aus]

Was the last radiator earthed properly ?

That can cause problems apparently with alloy radiators.

Not just ally ones.


Earthed properly? I have absolutely no idea. How do I make sure?

with a very very sensitive multi meter


I think you can use a multi-meter and stick one probe on the neg terminal of your battery and the other in the coolant in your radiator and check the reading. What an acceptable reading is, I dont know, you may need to check that out.

Best to just get an earth strap and connect it from your radiator to either a point on your chassis or engine just to be sure.

Maybe if you put a query in the tech section you may be able to get some info from someone with a bit more knowledge than me.

absolutey zero volts is acceptabe but you dont go from the battery you go from the engine block to the coolant in the radiator, this test wont work if you have a suzi and check it in the expansion tank you must check it at thre radiator plug.


Thanks for that idea.
I have used this method before to check the brake and clutch fluid. The higher? (can't remember, have to double check) the reading on the volt meter, the more water is in the fluid so the less effective it works. use as an indicator as to when its time to change the fluid.
cheers
Dave

not quite... what you are looking for is a stray earth current not the resistance of the fluid using the meter on impednace (the resistnace setting) and measuring the resistance can give you an indication of the concentration of the fluid but its wildly inaccurate.

The general rule is the higher the resistance the more water in the fluid in question.

This should ONLY be used for a comparison on your own vehicle checking from one vehicle to another can cause lots of confusion.


Curious why would you earth the radiator:angel:

It helps to prevent stray Earth currents,static build up in plasticy radiators and is alleged to also help against electrolisys


to reduce the effects of electrolytic corrosion

see.


I'm thinking of running a dedicated earth the length of the vehicle and removing all the earthing points from the vehicle body, chassie, motor and attaching them to the dedicated earth line.

Am I correct in reading into ELECTROlytic corrosion that it is associated with the fact that the motor is used as an earting point. As such the coolant conducts a small charge to the radiator? Given the radiator is mounted on rubber blocks it should be fairly well insulated from earthing.

thats pretty much it in a nut shell.

In some cases where you have mixed metal engines and cooling systems, using the wrong kind of coolant or using tap water as opposed to demineralised/distilled water you will actually tun your cooling system into a short circuted battery and it will eat the "softest" components in no time. If you have to fill up the cooling system with local tap water go check the public toilets first, stains in the porcilain or crystal growth on/near the taps means that as soon as you can you should dump the coolant and replace it.